allergist

[Guest guest]

I saw an allergist on Monday as I have had a cough since before

Christmas and the doctor tried a bunch of stuff and then said go see

this guy. I have always had allergies but there has been a question

about asthma, which is what the hospital diagnosed me as when I went

there in Dec. after being non stop coughing and having trouble

catching my breath. At the time I had been exposed to a lot of

bleach and so we thought it was that. They said bronchial asthma.

Anyway, since then my doctor put me on Advair which has helped I

think, but not enough.

So, surprise the allergist said I have allegies! I totally expected

him to lecture me to get rid of my pets but he didn't. Anyway, he

put me on Allegra, Advair, and inhaler called, Nasonex and a saline

nasal spray. I asked if I did have Asthma and he said that since I

was coughing he couldn't get an accurate reading and can't say if I

do or don't. So I said why take the Asthma meds and he said because

they might help.

So, ontop of already taking like seven meds, I now add more which is

not a great thing. Especially if I don't actually need all of

these. I asked about shots and he said he prefers to go with meds

first and use shots only if necessary. I don't know his rationale

for that.

He gave me a page with a list of all types of things to be allergic

to and numbers like 3 and 2 and also negative numbers. I have no

idea what these numbers indicate. Anyone know?

I asked about chemical sensitivities and he said there isn't any way

to test these, like cleaning products, and to just not use what

bothers me. So, I do really react to almost everything that has a

scent and asked for product recommendations and he didn't have any.

He did say he could do skin tests for personal care products. Does

anyone have any recommendations as far as soaps, lotions type

stuff?

Thanks for the help.

Sandrea